Hi. I'm Cathy with Level Up RN. In this video, we are going to talk about stress as well as
anxiety. And these may be two topics that you know something about if you are in nursing school. At
the end of the video, I'm going to do quick little knowledge check, give you guys a quiz
to see if you picked up on some of the key concepts that I'll be going over.
All right. So stress is the body's physical and emotional reaction to pressure. And one framework
used to describe how the body reacts to stress is something called general adaptation syndrome.
And this syndrome has three stages. The first stage is the alarm reaction stage.
This is where your body has a fight-or-flight response to a stressor. During this time, cortisol
levels will increase as well as your heart rate and your blood pressure. And then, from the
alarm reaction stage, we go into the resistance stage. So after the initial shock of the stressor
subsides, your body attempts to normalize its vital signs and its hormone levels. So some signs
and symptoms of the resistance stage can include poor concentration, irritability, and frustration.
Then, if the stress continues, you would enter the exhaustion stage. During this time,
really, that stress that's been going a long time depletes the body's resources,
and it really weakens the immune symptoms. So symptoms associated with the exhaustion stage
include fatigue, depression, anxiety, and actually, disease, because your immune system
is not functioning at full capacity. All right. Next, let's talk about anxiety.
So I'm going to talk about the four levels of anxiety, which include mild, moderate, severe,
and panic-level anxiety. And I'm going to talk about the characteristics and the symptoms of each
level, and then we'll talk about the nursing care of patients who have anxiety. So first,
we have mild anxiety. Mild anxiety is a normal, expected response to daily events in our life.
It heightens your awareness, it increases your perceptual field,
and it actually allows for optimal functioning. And it is also beneficial for learning.
So signs and symptoms of mild anxiety can include restlessness and irritability. However,
it also increases an individual's motivation. So it's not really such a bad thing. However,
if we get to moderate anxiety, this causes decreased concentration, and it also decreases an
individual's attention span and their perceptual field. So it may hinder problem-solving at this
point. Signs and symptoms of moderate anxiety include increased heart rate and respiration rate,
GI discomfort, as well as muscle tension. Then if we get to severe anxiety,
this is where the perceptual field has greatly decreased. So patients who have severe anxiety
will have difficulty completing even a simple task, and really, effective learning is not
possible at all at this level of anxiety. Symptoms of severe anxiety can include a feeling of dread,
headache, nausea, diarrhea, insomnia, palpitations, as well as hyperventilation.
Then if we get to a severe level of anxiety, really, the patient has loss of contact with
reality at this point, and functioning and communication are really ineffective. So learning,
of course, is not possible at all at this level of anxiety, and it can be life-threatening. So
symptoms of severe-level anxiety can include a feeling of terror
or impending doom, hallucinations or delusions, dilated pupils, severe trembling, or diaphoresis,
which is a fancy name for sweating. So, at this point, this is a very dangerous level of anxiety.
Now, let's talk about nursing care of a patient with anxiety.
If your patient has mild to moderate anxiety, you can help your patient with problem-solving.
You can evaluate what coping mechanisms they've used in the past that have been successful
because maybe they can use those coping mechanisms again for the current situation.
You can help provide an outlet that will relieve their tension and anxiety, so this definitely
includes exercise. Exercise, getting that heart rate up, brings down the cortisol levels and
really can help with anxiety. So that's good advice for not only your patient but also you.
If your patient has severe or panic-level anxiety, problem-solving is not an option,
is not going to be effective, so really, you need to move your patient to a quiet setting. You need
to remain with the patient and use simple, clear language and speak slowly and provide
for the patient's physical needs, such as food, rest, and safety, that type of thing. All right.
That is it as far as nursing care of anxiety. And next up, we'll have our quiz. Quiz time. I
have three questions for you guys. First question, which stage of the general adaptation syndrome
is characterized by increased cortisol levels and an increase in heart rate and blood pressure?
All right. If you said the alarm reaction stage, you are correct.
Second question. This is a true or false question. Mild anxiety is beneficial for learning.
The answer is true. Now, if you get over to severe or panic level,
that is definitely not going to be beneficial for learning.
What level of anxiety is characterized by a feeling of terror or impending doom?
If you said panic-level anxiety, you are correct. So hopefully, this video's been
helpful. If you haven't subscribed to our channel already, be sure to do so. And I'll see you
with more mental health topics in my next video. I invite you to subscribe to our channel and share
a link with your classmates and friends in nursing school. If you found value in this video, be sure
and hit the like button, and leave a comment and let us know what you found particularly helpful.